Stroger wins. Can he serve?

Nominee's prognosis still uncertain

Overwhelming margins in Chicago wards and low voter turnout propelled three-term Cook County Board President John Stroger to a Democratic primary victory even as he lay in a hospital bed recovering from a serious stroke.

In conceding defeat Wednesday, challenger Forrest Claypool said not enough of his suburban supporters made it to the polls. He said that widespread problems with voting machines delayed but did not influence the outcome of the election.

"I knew what we were up against," said Claypool, who received about 48 percent of the vote to Stroger's 52 percent with 88 percent of precincts reporting. "We were challenging virtually all of the power brokers in Cook County and Chicago."

At a union hall news conference late Wednesday, Ald. Todd Stroger, the son of the ailing board president, said his father, 76, had been informed of the outcome.

"He's aware of the victory," Todd Stroger said. "He's just happy."

Stroger's win focuses attention on the incumbent's medical condition. It also raises the prospect that the party's nominee for the November general election could ultimately be selected Democratic committeemen in Chicago wards and Cook County townships if Stroger chooses to retire or cannot continue to serve.

"Clearly the derby has begun," said County Commissioner Mike Quigley, who was chairman of Claypool's campaign. "But most who would start hunting [to replace Stroger] would probably wait a little while and see how the president progresses.... This is a guy who wants to come back."

But Democratic Party officials said there has been no discussion of a successor to Stroger.

"He's won the election, and if he decides to stay on the ticket, he's on the ticket," said Cook County Democratic Party Chairman Tom Lyons, noting that Stroger has until the fall to make a decision.

Republican Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica was unopposed in seeking the GOP nomination for the Nov. 7 general election ballot.

Doctors said Friday that it was too early to say whether Stroger would recover enough to be able to return to his duties. On Wednesday, officials at Rush University Medical Center said Stroger remained in serious but stable condition.

In his concession speech, Claypool thanked his supporters and decried as a "train wreck" the ballot fiasco that delayed definitive poll results until Wednesday afternoon. Claypool also bluntly dismissed any suggestion that he would be the party's choice to replace Stroger.

"As you know, I won't be the choice of the ward bosses," Claypool said with a chuckle. "It will be some mystery candidate if that does come to pass."

Claypool's concession came at the end of a long and sometimes bitterly fought campaign that took a sudden turn last week when Stroger fell ill. Claypool had targeted independent and reform-minded voters, but his strong showing in the suburbs was not enough to overcome Stroger's big numbers in the city.

Lyons said Stroger's illness likely weakened his support in areas such as the city's North Side but galvanized Stroger's South Side, including majority African-American wards.

"They didn't want to see their guy pushed around," Lyons said. "He's kind of an iconic figure, and when they think people are coming at him, they're going to rally around him."

Ald. Howard Brookins (21st) said that when Stroger was hospitalized, "the message of what John Stroger means for the African-American community began to resonate. I don't know why it wasn't resonating before."

Other factors appear to have influenced the outcome. Claypool supporters said the low turnout was disheartening and played into Stroger's hands.

"The voters have a role to play, and that's to show up," Quigley said. "And that was the most troubling part of the evening."

Quigley also cited late strong pushes for Stroger by Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin and other leading Democrats.

"That's hard to overcome," Quigley said.

Stroger's political longevity and reputation as a proponent for the county's poor also proved crucial to his campaign's success.

Speaking before Claypool's concession speech, Daley cited Stroger's push to build the new county hospital, a Near West Side AIDS clinic and the new Domestic Violence Court. He said he believed that Stroger's health played no role in determining how voters cast their ballots.

"John Stroger is a very kind and considerate man," Daley said. "He made a lot of friends over many, many years. People were voting for him, not against anyone else."

But for much of the day, Stroger's campaign fretted about whether those votes were being properly counted.

Late on election night, Stroger campaign officials, angered by the slow returns from South Side polling places--traditionally a Stroger stronghold--threatened legal action if any votes were lost.

By noon Wednesday, the rhetoric had cooled, and Stroger campaign manager Bruce Washington was saying, "We strongly believe that we have won.